Liv “Boots” Bergen is shocked when the body of a stunning college intern working in her Colorado limestone quarry is found on the shores of a nearby reservoir. Clues are scarce except that the crime scene appears to be a macabre, intricately staged tableau.

Soon after, Liv gets a call from a former classmate who’s become an FBI profiler. Lisa Henry explains that the murder is not the first of its kind. Driven by her need to find the man who could commit such a depraved act, the headstrong Liv becomes caught up in the pursuit of a madman with a perverse, unquenchable appetite both for women and for surrealistic art.

As she assists her profiler friend and another FBI agent, Streeter Pierce, legendary for his crime-solving skill and striking good looks, Liv discovers she may have her own knack for outwitting and tracking down the most brutal murderer Colorado has ever seen. But in doing so, she will put her friends, her family, and her own safety at risk. How many bodies will pile up before the so-called Venus de Milo murderer is caught?

The first in the Liv Bergen Mystery series, In the Belly of Jonah is an engrossing story with a memorable protagonist that will have readers eagerly awaiting Sandra Brannan’s next book.